Toyota Prius engine prob?
 

You have to be a member of the King 5 News web page to open the link, so I copy and pasted it. Looks like Toyota may have a problem on their hands here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The government has opened an investigation of the hot-selling hybrid Toyota Prius amid reports of the engine stalling without warning, officials said Wednesday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the preliminary investigation will involve about 75,000 cars of the 2004-2005 model years.

The Prius has been a hugely popular model in the United States, leading to waiting lists. Automotive experts have said it is the first economy car with a higher resale value.

Hybrid vehicles deliver better mileage by switching between a gasoline engine and an electric motor. Toyota Motor Corp. leads in hybrid sales, with cumulative global sales of 381,500.

The agency said it has received 33 complaints of alleged engine stalling. The majority of the complaints involved reports of the engine stalling at speeds of 35 miles per hour and 65 mph.

Some of the complaints indicated that the vehicle was operated in electric mode for some period after the gas engine stalled, NHTSA said.

All of the complaints reported that the engine shut down without warning and about half of the complaints said that when the engine shut off, the vehicle would not restart and required the vehicle to be towed.

Toyota officials said last month they were investigating complaints about the Prius stalling. More than 88,000 2004 and 2005 Prius cars have been sold in the United States.

Toyota executives did not have any immediate comment on the government's investigation.

-King 5 News, NBC

bah, and it won an award for being most ecomomical. lol now u can spend the saved money for towing fees instead of gassaline :)

The car is over priced and an electrical quagmire waiting for major failure.

Hybrids are a quaint excercise to appease the tree huggers but not a long term economical or viable option.

very well put rc :)

If gas goes to $5 a gallon in 2 years like they predict they will be for a lot more people than just tree huggers! Don’t get me wrong, I think hybrids are far from perfect. I know some of the small Diesels get better over all mileage and cost a lot less to make. If gas goes that high I hope they will bring more desiles to the USA. But both will be becoming a lot more common in coming years.

Like who predicts? No ones predicting 5 dollar gassoline in the US any time in the forseeable future without government interference. In fact, gasoline prices are on the fall nationwide from the speculation induced high and long before 5 dollars shale rock diesel, something we have an over abundance of even in the US would become feasible.

As for diesel don't count on it. Under the new diesel regs being enacted in California and other states there isn't a diesel in europe that is emission legal here.

Well that has been a headline in a lot of places. I heard stories on NBC and CNN that gas prices easily could go that high. Especially if the dollar keeps sliding.

If gas is $5 a gallon - how does that justify a $35K sub-compact car?
WHy not just buy a $9K Kia?

Not to mention that the gas price of around $2 has already drastically changed car sales here. GM and Ford are both losing a lot of money because people are not buying SUVs and trucks like they were just a year ago. Most are switching to more fuel efficient Japanese cars. Here is the article that just came out today.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8062297/

The dollar isnt sliding anymore either. Its up 5 percent thanks to the Euros practical collapse in the last few days.

You need to read my thread on gasoline prices in the world politics thread. Youll quickly find out the sky isnt falling. Also if the dollar falling caused the gasoline price to be 5 dollars, then technically the price isnt ten dollars, in the same way this isnt anywhere near the highest price gasoline has ever been. Check inflation and its about average.

Actually - the "SUV's are dead" crap is just that - CRAP.

The "import" brands cannot produce enough SUV's to keep up with demand.

Suburbans are not the only SUV's out there - and if SUV's really where dead, why would ALL the car makers keep releasing new ones.

Yes I did see it had some slight gains the last few weeks but that is not a real sign of a turn around and it still has a LONG way to go to get back up to a healthy level.

5 percent is slight?
The euro practically collapsed last week
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100332_pf.html

The dollar is back, and will continue the upward trend in the near future. Of that you can be sure. The only real question is will it grow on its own, or will the destruction of the euro be the stimulus? (The bejing and deficits are still issues but as long as the euro takes a nose dive and theres nothing drastic out of washington you will see positive movement in the dollar).

Regardless as I edited above:
Now the euro.. well you guys are screwed for the near term.

thread on gas prices, feel free to continue that there to avoid a hijack.

http://www.motorworld.net/forum/show...=25340&start=0

Finaly read your article again:
isnt the same as the article here:
Implying not a loss in suv sales, but a change in which companies suvs and trucks sold sold. Im waiting for you to tell me how the titan and ridgeline are smaller then the avalanch and f150....

anyway back on topic, they said that it was a programming error and have known about it for a while and are working to fix it.

Yep - an electronic quagmire waiting to fail :P